Faced with tougher state standards and new research about how children learn, more schools and school districts have plunged into variants of personalized learning, or approaches to instruction that seek to better cater to students' individual learning needs. This special report explores that growing interest in personalized learning, looking at how related instructional initiatives (many of which are costly and technologically intensive) are playing out in the classroom and what solutions and challenges they pose for teachers and schools.

Patrick Abele, executive director of the personalized-learning project in the Iredell-Statesville district in North Carolina, says the initiative is about more than technology. "I don't think you could just transition to blended learning with some technology, without all the rest of this being in place," he explained. Read the story.
—John W. Adkisson for Education Week.

Video Collection

Teacher Sarah Brown Wessling of Johnston, Iowa, explains how making podcasts helps her deliver better feedback on her students’ writing, including more personalized responses. View this video and others from the Teaching Channel in this special collection on personalized learning.

June 18, 2014 In 2012, the Iredell-Statesville district in North Carolina won a $20 million grant to pursue a personalized-learning initiative. Now, the district's leaders want to make sure they get it right.

June 18, 2014 Silvestre Arcos, an award-winning math teacher at KIPP: Washington Heights Middle School, says that bringing technology into his classroom has boosted engagement and given him more flexibility to address students' learning needs.